Eight Days in Darkness: The True Story of the Abduction, Rape, and Rescue of Anita Wooldridge by Angela Roegner, Anita Wooldridge

This is the true account of the abduction of Anita Wooldridge on June 25, 1998. She was taken from her parents’ house, her abductor was not a stranger but he was definitely not a friend either, and he had a prior conviction for rape. For eight days she was held captive, locked in a metal storage cabinet that was 5 feet by 2 feet and repeatedly raped.

Eight Days in Darkness chronicles the abduction, the steps her captor took to avoid detection and transport her across state lines, how he kept his current residence hidden from authorities and the successful efforts of local authorities and FBI agents to find and rescue her.

There is a foreword by one of the investigators, an introduction by Anita Wooldridge and an author’s note. This is an amazing story, but not an amazing book. Anita has strong faith and it comes through in her introduction, some may find it a little preachy. I wish I could say I liked this book but I didn’t.

The first thing I didn’t like was that the authors decided to refer to Anita’s abductor as “the mole”, because “moles have beady eyes, are unattractive, and prefer to only come out of their holes at night.” I don’t ever recall a perp being given a nickname in any of the other true crime books I have read. Her description of a mole is subjective, not based on fact. Moles are amazing animals and I happen to like moles. One mole can eat 45-50 lbs of worms and insects each year (I don’t like bugs). Included in that list of insects are grubs that destroy plants. Moles are not nocturnal animals and are specially designed to live underground. Also they are not predatory animals. Anita’s captor was a predator.

I also found certain aspects of this book to be rather confusing, for instance, the names of everyone in the book were changed to protect their privacy, but in the acknowledgement and captions for the pictures, their real names were used. Not only was this confusing to me and I am sure to others, it totally negated the attempt to protect their privacy.

The book takes you day by day through Anita’s ordeal, however it skimmed through the police investigation, spending more time on the officer’s personal life, how this investigation was impacting their relationships with their wives, girlfriends and so on. I didn’t mind the references to faith in God, I found the constant direct quotes of their prayers to God annoying and a little tiresome.

I thought Anita suffered through a terrible ordeal and is to be admired for the way she handled it and how she is recovering, I think the officers did an amazing job of finding her. I do not think this book does them justice.

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About Belleza

I got the name Bella because my grandfather called me Suzabell. I use that as a username and my friends on the site started calling me Bella. Thus was born: Bella Foxx's Life, now known as "just a city girl" since I have made the big jump from the country and am now living in the City, UES.
I like to make jewelry (check out my blog "Bella is creative" started April 17, 2008) and write. I like to do cross stitch and knit. I sew, I don't really enjoy it, but I enjoy the clothes.
I like to read the Bible, books, magazines, online newspaper articles, blogs, jokes on candy wrappers, ads on the subway, billboards, backs of food boxes, lists of ingredients and recipes, cleaning directions, sayings on shirts. I post my reviews on "Just a girl, living, reading, watching, and writing", on Shelfari, Library Thing and Goodreads..
I am allergic to practically everything: grass, trees, weeds, animal dander, dust, mold, wheat, apples, nuts, fish and coconut. The fish and coconut are so serious I carry an Epi-pen and wear a Medic-Alert bracelet.
And last but not least. I love the Yankees.

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Belleza

I look good in black and white.

I am reading the Bible, books, magazines, online newspaper articles, blogs, jokes on candy wrappers, ads on the subway, billboards, backs of food boxes, lists of ingredients and recipes, cleaning directions, sayings on shirts, then I write and write. When I'm not reading, I'm experiencing life, trying out new restaurants and getting massages. I write about those places here, take a look, you might find something you like.